Provenance research at the Städtische Museen Freiburg: examination of paintings acquired from the art market in accordance with the Washington Principles

The aim of the project was to carry out a complete examination of the 81 paintings acquired from the art market by the Städtische Museen Freiburg from 1933 onward, leaving as few gaps as possible. The return of a painting in March 2011 can be considered a success.

For 77 of the 81 objects, dossiers including photos and a thorough examination of the reverse side were created using the dedicated project space on the Bureau for Provenance Research’s portal. However, 39 of the 77 objects had to be investigated for a possible problematic provenance without having their reverse side examined because the painting storage depot needed to be relocated to Frankfurt am Main in August 2009 due to water damage. The provenance of four objects, all with the same previous owner, could not be dealt with any further due to lack of time. In total, seven paintings were able to be investigated fully in terms of their provenance. Apart from the two cases mentioned, it could not be determined based on the existing state of research whether the remaining 70 objects had definitely been confiscated in persecution-related circumstances. The full review of incomplete provenances often failed due to the local galleries or art dealerships, which had stock only for a few years and for which there were no gallery papers that could be researched, or due to archived estate papers which still needed to be dealt with. In addition, a major obstacle was presented by the fact that some Black Forest painters were unknown and the available literature was often sparse. Many previous owners have already died and there are no heirs or they cannot be identified. For nearly all the works, however, it was possible to investigate some stages of provenance and the research conducted often showed that, even where the chain of provenance was not completely clarified, confiscation as a result of persecution could be ruled out with a high degree of certainty.

In connection with the project, the provenance of a prominent sculpture acquired on the art market in 1955 could also be researched fully (Adam and Eve in Paradise, Meister HL).

A report, which is not yet final, was published in the Augustinermuseum’s three-yearly report for 2008–2011. A final report will be published in the three-yearly report for 2012–2015.

(c) Städtische Museen Freiburg